


Aliens and demons

by myotishia



Series: In the rift [9]
Category: Torchwood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-23 21:38:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18558370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myotishia/pseuds/myotishia
Summary: Four five six. Three numbers that haunted Jack Harkness.





	1. 456

Elise was back to her usual training schedule and Owen was being just as annoying as ever to get her to move. She was much faster than she used to be, plus it kind of helped to have Tosh waving a little paper flag she’d made in support. It was the thought that counted. Elise was on her tenth and last lap and Owen always let her chase him as he knew she was nowhere near fast enough to catch him. She insisted she’d catch him one day. On the home stretch she decided to just say hell to it and make a final mad sprint. Her right foot hit the floor and then she skidded to a halt, her head spinning. It took a moment to realise where she even was. She’d jumped. Space jumped. Owen stood, stunned behind her. **  
**

“How did…?” He began.

Elise laughed. “I jumped… I don’t know how but I did it.”

“Ely is this a good idea?”

“Yes! If I could have done this on command before I wouldn’t have a scar on my leg. I’m not thinking of using it for fun but… Come on!”

“She has a point.” Said Jack, taking an interest in the new development. “It would be better if you knew how to control it too. The last thing you need is to end up part way through a wall.”

“Yea, I don’t want that.”

“Can you leave it for today? We’ve got stuff to do this afternoon.” Owen was trying to lessen how obvious his concern was.

“Busy?” Jack asked.

“Yea. We’re going to try and reverse engineer the future implant. I’m kind of curious how it works and it would be beneficial if a surprise pregnancy was no longer a possibility.”

“Yes please.” Smiled Gwen.

“Well, I’m going to let you two discuss it but I feel gross. Shower time.” Elise waved and trotted out, any fatigue forgotten.

 

On her way back she paused at a sound, like music played by an old radio. It had a slight crackle to it and it certainly wasn’t modern music. She brushed it off as someone leaving a radio on a vintage channel and went on her way.

“Oh Ianto.” She began, spotting him moving a box of books. “I think you left a radio on back there.”

“Hmm? Is it playing static?”

“No. Just old music.”

“Radios can’t get signal down there.” He placed down the box and rubbed his shoulder.

“Come and listen for yourself.”

He followed curiously and could faintly hear the music. It got louder but they couldn’t figure out exactly where it was coming from. Elise looked through the glass of what seemed to be an old office, it didn’t even have an electronic lock.

“I think it’s coming from in here.” She called.

“I’m not sure how, this office hasn’t been unlocked since the eighties.” He pulled a ring of keys from inside his jacket and looked through them, choosing an older style brass key. The lock was stiff from disuse but gave way with a couple of clicks. The office was like a time capsule, everything abandoned as it was before it was locked. Papers were sat on the desk and the radio was on and playing to itself. Ianto switched the radio off, unnerved that it could even play at all. The room smelled strongly of cigar smoke and one of the desk draws was open.

“We should leave.” Ianto said, having encountered oddities inside the hub before.

Elise nodded and made her way right out, watching Ianto lock the door behind them.

“Should we do something about that?” She asked.

“There’s not anything we can do. I’ll just report it and hope it doesn’t happen again.”

“Do anomalies like this happen in the Hub often?”

“Not often but sometimes. It’s worse the closer you get to the old train tracks. I’ve never seen one this far out though.”

“Creepy. Then again a lot of what we deal with is creepy.”

“True… Weren’t you going somewhere?”

“Oh, bugger yea.”

 

Owen was starting to wonder if he should go and fetch Elise with how long she was taking just to shower when she finally turned up.

“Sorry, sorry, got distracted.” She apologised, pulling her still damp hair into a ponytail.

“I was worried you were scared off.”

“Naa. I’m fine with medical stuff.”

He patted the bed. “Take a seat. I’m going to try and see if we can get a good view without removing it.”

“Sure. Whatever you need to do. I heard they were a bitch to remove anyway.” She sat waiting.

“Yea?”

“Well they’re made to stay in place aren’t they.” She held out her right forearm, pointing to a tiny scar that showed where the implant had been inserted. Owen held the scanner just over the skin and slowly changed the settings, watching as it scanned through the layers of skin and muscle. Hidden just away from the bone sat a small cylinder. It was larger than the current implant and, looking beyond its surface, he saw it was a lot more complex. That was to be expected but what he hadn’t seen coming was the fact that it bore a similarity to the scanner he was actively using.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, studying his expression carefully.

“It’s based on alien tech.”

“Huh? Everyone had them in my time.”

“It wouldn’t be the first thing of alien origin to reach the general public. Someone likely did what we’re doing now just with the original and not a reproduction.”

“At least you’ll have a little warning when they try and patent it then.”

“Looks like I’ll have to temporarily remove it to document it.”

“As long as it’s only temporary. I don’t feel comfortable relying on older contraceptive methods, plus I seriously don’t want to have to deal with periods again.”

“Don’t worry. It looks safe and you’re already here so it’s not as if it’s being left for the public. Right, I’ll numb out the area and remove it. You ok with that?”

“Yep.”

“I can get someone to hold your hand if you want.”

“I’m fine.” She laughed, pulling her sleeve up a little higher to make sure it was out of the way.

 

“So..” Gwen began. “What did you do with those two agents we had in the cells?”

Jack looked up from tampering with one of the time agents watches. “I retconned them and sent them to a safe time. They’re probably taking a beach holiday by now.”

“Really?”

“What did you think I was going to do?”

“I don’t know. Usually I have to convince you to take the ethical rout. Especially after what happened.”

“I’m not a monster Gwen. They’re just humans. With that amount of retcon in their systems they’ll be enjoying adolescence all over again. There’s no way those memories can be retrieved, even by the agency.”

“What is the time agency anyway?”

He looked back at the vortex manipulator, its insides spread across the desk. “Someone has to police time travel once it’s discovered, but they took it too far. They act as if they can just go across time and do whatever they want. They don’t just kill people across time to clean up their messes they use their resources against their own agents.”

“Owen said about the virus thing.”

“Yea. I didn’t even know about it. I should have expected it after everything else.”

Gwen sat across from him. “What did they do to you?”

“They stole two years from me… I thought I could maybe get them back but now it doesn’t matter. I’ve lived long enough to cover the time.” He wouldn’t look her in the eye, obviously not wanting to get into detail.

“You got away from all that though.”

“Yea… Yea I did. Is there something you need?”

“I was just curious. Are you-”

“I’m fine. Why don’t you see how things are going with Owen.” It wasn’t really a question. Gwen sighed, not wanting to leave but knowing Jack wouldn’t say anything more about the matter she decided it was just easier to go.

 

Tosh watched as another signal descended from the stratosphere only to be intercepted by her system. It began using an old analogue radio signal. Four five six. The system kept linking to past files as a warning. Annoyingly every time she tried to actually read what it was pointing to she found the files either blocked or mostly redacted. Compared to government records they were incredibly difficult to unlock without the current head of Torchwoods code. She hoped Jack’s code would be enough as previously she’d found files that could only be unlocked by the head of Torchwood one, an impossibility. Jack looked busy but she needed them unlocking asap so she’d have to disturb him.

“Jack?”

“Yea?” He sat taking apart the second watch, removing anything that could be tracked.

“Could you unlock these files for me?”

“Just send them over and I will when I’m done.”

“It’s kind of urgent. Sorry.”

He looked up and placed the deconstructed watch aside, knowing that Toshiko would never push the issue for no reason. He visibly paled when he saw what she was trying to access.

“Why do you need these?”

She was surprised, Jack was usually happy to let her have access to anything on the system without question. “I’ve been blocking a signal being sent from somewhere in the stratosphere. I haven’t been able to pinpoint where exactly.”

“Damn… Ok, Tosh, I can give you access to these but you can’t say anything to anyone until we’ve all had a meeting about it.”

“Ok… Can I ask why?”

“You’ll understand once you’ve read it.”

“Jack?” She was nervous, very nervous.

He started walking away. “Meeting. Four o clock.”

 

At four Jack swallowed his pride and explained what happened in the sixties. He wouldn’t look anyone in the eye and braced himself for the backlash he believed he deserved.

“And now they’re back for more?” Gwen asked softly, wanting to break the awful silence.

“At best guess, yea.”

Elise stood and marched for the door against Owens protests. “No! I need to cool off before I say something I regret.”

“Go ahead.” Jack sighed.

“Really? This is where you want to stand? Ok. Fine! Pick yourself up off the goddamn floor and stop acting like it was all your fault. That’s my schtick.”

“It w-”

“Did I sound like I was done?! So this world ending event happens and everyone’s informed and then they decide to just leave it to Torchwood three. A group of ten people max with little backup. What the fuck was Torchwood one doing? Sitting in their big tower in London with their thumbs up their arses?! And the government did shit all? Jack I’m not angry at you, I’m angry at every other fucker that thought it was ok to make you take that decision. You weren’t even in charge at the time! They get to sit around feeling superior while you set of the proverbial bomb, conveniently forgetting that they were the ones with a gun to your head. It was a bad situation, I get it, but you don’t throw everyone else under the bus to save your own skin! Especially as everyone should have seen this coming. You give into their demands once and of course they’re going to come back. And where was the doctor?!”

“Elise!”

“Jack! I’m serious! He turns up and saves the day until we fucking need him and he’s nowhere to be seen. He was meant to be your friend! Friends don’t do that! He can freely travel to any time or place at will and he lets this happen?! What kind of shithead does that?! He says he loves humanity until it’s not convenient for him anymore. It’s no wonder the queen set up Torchwood to catch his sorry arse. I’d want to give him a piece of my mind too. Why aren’t you just as pissed off, Jack? He abandoned you! And he’d do it again, did you know that? Do you know what I was told happened to you after you followed the doctor again, only moments after coming back from the dead because Abbadon tried to eat your fucking soul? He practically delivered you into another time lords hands! You left them, no, us for him and he landed you in a year of dying over and over just so this monster could get his rocks off. Just because it was fixed doesn’t change that it happened, it doesn’t matter what timeline. That echoes through time, it affects you. You watched them die, do you understand?! You know time travel. You know that responsibility! So fuck the doctor! Fuck the government and fuck the self pity! We have a job to do now, so you can lock yourself off from everyone else or you can buck up your ideas, be a bit more honest with all of us, and you can help us find a way to end these pieces of shit permanently!” She screamed, hands shaking and red in the face.

Jack wanted to argue but the sheer fury he’d just been blasted with had practically knocked the wind out of him. There was nothing he could say, she was right. He still hated himself for the decision he’d made, but it was a decision made in desperation.

He finally looked up.

“She’s right.” Ianto spoke up.

Gwen nodded. “We have to find a way to fix this now. Make sure it never happens again.”

“If I can locate the source of the signal we might be able to bring them down. They have to be close to even send a signal of that kind.” Tosh pointed out, putting her work face back on.

The team mobilised, knowing what they needed to do. Owen patted Jacks shoulder as he left.

Much quieter and calmer now, Elise sighed. “I’m sorry… I lost my temper an-”

“It’s ok. It needed to be said.” Jack smiled meekly.

“So you’re not going to fire me for insubordination?”

“If I did that every time someone shouted at me I wouldn’t have a team. Anyway, I expected someone to explode, I just didn’t think it’d be you.”

“I think I just beat them to the punch… Do we even have anything that could blast a huge ship out of the sky?”

“A few things. How’s your arm?” He pointed to the dressing.

“I can feel it again which is pretty strange. Did you have something like this in your time?”

“Yea. You can’t use them as a time agent just in case you die and the locals find it.”

“Bummer.”

“Oh yea. Especially when you’re the one who ends up pregnant.”

“Wait… What?”

“I’m not doing that again.”

 

“I think I’ve found the approximate area of the ship.” Exclaimed Tosh after over two hours of constant work. She brought up the coordinates.

“We don’t have anything that we can launch from the ground to hit it.” Jack grumbled. “Any way you can access their systems?”

“If I had a few weeks maybe.”

“No luck. We might have to call in support from the air force but if they see an attack coming they might start the killing early.”

“What about a drone?” Asked Elise.

“The UK don’t have any and we can’t involve the Americans without them trying to take over the whole operation.”

“If you have the right parts I can build a simple quad-copter. If it’s just an explosive delivery system it should be easy.”

“How long will that take?”

“A day, maybe two tops depending on if I need to go and fetch the parts. The only issue I might have is getting the controller to work at that distance.”

“I can work on boosting the range.” said Tosh.

“Think we can get hold of a bomb disposal robot? They have industrial receivers so we could limit communication issues. As long as the control setup is still intact it can even be a decommissioned one.”

“Gwen, see what you can get hold of.” Jack said, feeling a little more positively about the situation. “Ianto, Owen, give Elise a hand building this thing. I’m going to get hold of the right explosives.”

 

By the morning Gwen had obtained a control unit and walked into the garage to see a framework already completed. Elise pulled off her welding gauntlets as she greeted her workmate.

“I that what I hope it is?” She asked.

“I got hold of a spare control setup but the robot itself is stuck in Scotland right now.”

“No no this is great. Do you like her?”

“Her?”

“Arachne, the octocopter. I couldn’t get a normal quadcopter to give enough lift without tripling the size so she got four more arms. She’s only bare bones for now. Ianto’s gone to collect the blades and side panels from the RAF base and take them to a guy who can get them cut to size. I could do it myself but it could take me hours longer and the edges will be better with their machinery. Owen’s making sure the electrics are weather proof and insulated enough that they won’t give up when it gets to the right altitude.”

“She’s very… Angular.”

“Yea. Sharp lines mean I can make her stealthy as hell. If she gets spotted the UFO lot are gonna go nuts.” Elise grinned.

“How’s she going to get away from the blast fast enough?”

“She’s not. She’s going to ram into the side of the ship and hopefully smash a hole in the hull before exploding.”

“But, you sound so attached.”

“I am, but I know she’s going to save people so her sacrifice will be worth it. She’s going to be a little hero.”

“Were you here all night?”

“Yea, but I so rarely get to work on a project like this. I should probably take a nap while the pieces get collected. We can give the control unit to Tosh so we can start trying to boost it.” Elise bounced, pulling off her apron.

“You might want to wash your face too.”

“Huh? Oh yea.” She laughed, realising she was probably covered in a layer of dirt.                  

 

“Any updates?” Asked Jack, looking over Toshiko’s shoulder.

“They’ve gone quiet for now but now I know what to track I won’t lose them. They’ve moved since their first broadcast, probably thinking that something in the city is blocking them.”

“They’re not wrong technically.”

“Well, they can’t escape that easily.”

“That’s what I like to hear. Have you had a chance to get some sleep yet?”

“I did last night. Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Oh yea.”

“You sound too pleased with yourself.”

“It’s not often we get to bring out the big guns. They’ll be lucky if they’re not atomised.”

“As long as it gets delivered.”

“Are you doubting your girlfriends skills?”

“No, but I think the air force might have something to say about a large unregistered drone. We don’t want it to get shot down.”

“I’ll make a few calls when the time comes. Trust me.”

“You know I do. Could you wake Elise up when Ianto gets back? She’s taking a nap.”

He looked around. “Where is she?”

“She pushed some chairs together and made a blanket tent to sleep in.” Tosh smiled, pointing over at a blanket that looked as if it was stretched between the back of the chair and the front of the seat to create a shelter.

“Creative.”

“She does that when she naps at home too. No, I don’t know why.”

 

Six hours later Arachne was complete and her paint was drying. Everyone was exhausted but it was complete.

“Isn’t she beautiful?” Elise beamed. “Her bones might be hollow but I dare anyone to try and damage her from the outside.”

“Who’s going to pilot her?” Asked Ianto, cleaning off the paint from his hands.

“Fancy playing some GTA irl Owen?”

“You want me to pilot your baby?” Asked Owen in mock astonishment.

“As long as you crash her into the right thing. We’re missing one thing though.”

“Yea?”

“The bomb.”

Ianto pulled out his phone. “I’ll text Jack to bring it down.”

“Thanks. In the meantime let’s give her a little test flight.” Elise opened up the suitcase size controller and set it on a table. The rotor blades began to wir and the unit rose steadily into the air, the extra blades keeping it stabilised. To an outsider Arachne looked just like you’d imagine a UFO to look. She hovered and could swoop side to side without any kind of run up. After Owen took over to fly her around the large room using only the camera view he landed her with a gentle click.

“We need another one of these. Might be useful.” Mused Ianto, looking over the schematics for the huge drone. “A smaller one for surveillance.”

“If this goes well I’ll make you a small army of these little guys.”

Jack entered carrying a box very carefully. “Open her up.”

“Got ya.” She opened a hatch on the very top. “There you go.”

Inside the box was an unusually innocent looking orb made of metal. He picked it up and slowly lowered it into the drone.

“Think that’ll be enough?” Asked Owen from the table.

“If it isn’t then we have bigger problems. These are intended to obliterate starships three times the size of the one up there. Just try not to hit anything else on the way there.”

 

Gwen sat behind Tosh, watching the video feed on her screen, a map on the screen above. The view was admittedly beautiful, gliding smoothly above the cloud line, the sky so many shades of blue. Ahead of the drone a formation of clouds seemed out of place. It would be invisible from below but from above it was clearly out of place.

“Owen, this is where you have to slow down a little, I don’t know where the ship is exactly inside there.” Tosh said, pushing her glasses up.

“No problem. As long as I aim dead centre I can’t miss it.” He smiled, pushing forward. The cameras blinded by the thick clouds. In a sea of white, vapour freezing across the lenses around the octocopter.

“Come on baby girl, you can do it.” Elise muttered through clenched teeth, two of the rotors reporting heavy damage.

Everyone held their breath as a dark shape came into view and seconds later the feed cut, signal lost.

“Did it work?” She asked, fingers crossed.

 

Tosh watched a live feed from a ship in the area as the sky cleared in a burst of bright orange and yellow. As it faded nothing was left. The alien transmission was gone but nothing had left Earth’s atmosphere.

“Direct hit.” She confirmed.

A cheer rose from both halves of the team in celebration. A weight in Jacks heart lifted slightly and he lent back against one of the pillars.

 

Another day over and a job well done, Gwen headed home. She was lost in thoughts of dinner, her key in the lock of her front door when something hit her. It was sharp and sudden, not even giving her time to realise before she hit the floor, a pool of blood spreading around her head.

Jack sped to the scene, the area taped off and Rhys sat with a blanket around his shoulders, shaking and covered in blood. He’d heard the shot and found her lifeless. Seeing Jack he stood and charged over.

“No! This is your fault! This is all your-” Rhys descended into sobs, all malice and strength gone. A police officer rushed to help Gwens devastated husband, leading him away, still in hysterics. Jack felt the cold pierce his skin, pulling the heat from his very core. The police allowed him to take Gwens body. That’s how it worked, if a Torchwood agent died, no matter the cause, they became Torchwood property. He needed to know what had happened. Who was to blame. Time seemed to move so fast whenever he’d been made to do this. From the scene of the death to back home, to informing everyone. Driving back he called everyone in for an emergency meeting. They all knew that could only mean bad things. Jack placed Gwen in her own draw in the autopsy bay and waited, trying to make it look as if he hadn’t been crying.

“What happened?” Asked Tosh, resting a hand on Jacks slumped shoulder.

He looked up from his grief stricken daze. He couldn’t put it off any longer as the rest of his team stood looking for answers.

“I got a call an hour ago… Gwen’s been killed.” He said, refusing to let his voice crack.

“W-what? When? How?” Tosh began, tears already falling down her face.

“She was shot in the head.”

Owen pulled Tosh into his arms as she began sobbing. He just stared into space, letting what he’d been told sink in. Ianto just covered his face in his hands in disbelief.

Elise felt like she couldn’t breath. No, this wasn’t meant to happen. She was right there only a couple of hours earlier. It wasn’t fair. She felt as if she failed them, watching from the outside. The sound seemed so distant and muffled, as if she was listening through a closed door. Everything went black.

 

Gwen was just about to leave the festivities when, in her peripheral vision, she saw Elise stumble and fall. She walked over to help her up.

“I thought you said you weren’t drinking. You alright?” She asked, offering her hand.

Elise looked up in shock, tears spilling down her face. “Gwen! You’re alive!”

“Last time I checked. Did you hit your hea-” Her words were cut short by Elise pulling her into a crushing embrace. “Woah, what just happened?”

By this point everyone was paying attention to Elise’s odd behaviour.

“What time is it?” She asked, letting Gwen go.

“Just turned seven, why?”

“Time jump… It has to be a time jump… Gwen, please, for the love of god or whatever is out there do not go home!”

“I think Rhys would be-”

“He’d be more upset finding your body. In fact he probably shouldn’t be home either.”

“Elise. You’re bleeding.” Gwen said softly, holding Elise’s arms to stop her swaying. Blood was running from her nose. “Come on, sit down.”

She handed Elise a paper towel to clean herself up and looked over to the rest of the team, confused. Owen walked over to check her over, wanting to know what the hell had just caused all this.

Jack on the other hand was looking at his watch, overhearing Elises panicked words. A very small blip in time was slowly fading. He pulled over a chair to sit next to Elise.

“Take it slow, I believe you. What happened exactly?” He asked.

“We’d just got home and you called us saying we had to come back and it was urgent… When we got there… Here… Whatever, you told us Gwen had been shot and killed. Then the world went funny and I blacked out, now I’m here…. You believe me? I know how crazy I sound.”

“You’re a walking time disturbance. Yea, I believe you.” He looked over to a shell shocked Gwen. “I’ll escort you home and check out the area. If Elise is right we can stop this before it happens.”

“Ok.” Gwen agreed.

 

By the time she got to her front door Gwen had relaxed a little, that was until Jack pulled her to the floor and the door frame next to where her head had just been exploded into splinters of wood. Jack was back up before the event had even sunk in for her chasing the shooter. Rhys opened the door and looked around, wide eyed.

“Gwen? What just happened?” He asked, oblivious to the murder attempt. He helped her up and looked at the door frame, the bullet still embedded inside.

She took her earpiece from her pocket and put it on. “Do you need backup?”

From the other side she heard Jack growl. “Damn it! No. They’re gone. I have a safe house you can both go to for tonight.”

 

Elise’s nose had finally stopped bleeding and the headache she had been nursing had finally ebbed to nothing. Owen was monitoring her carefully, concern etched into his face.

“I’m fine. It was just a nosebleed.” She sighed.

“No, it’s a nosebleed for now. Ely, you don’t know the long term effects of this.”

“Neither do you. I didn’t jump intentionally, it just happened.”

“Then we need to find a way to stop it.”

“It’s worth the risk. Without it Gwen would be dead right now. I’m fine with looking into it and trying to limit the dangers, but I’m not just going to stop.”

“And what do we do if it kills you?” He shouted, unintentionally.

Elise stayed silent, having no real answer for him.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to shout I just…”

“I know. It’s ok… I’m not just going to up and leave you, you know.”

He sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her protectively.

“Future Owen had a watch like Jacks, maybe it was to help stop this.”

“Future Owen?”

“Yea.”

“Not your Owen?”

“You’re my Owen, dumbass.”

Owen laughed softly, smiling. “Well, we’ve still got those two other vortex manipulators. We could see what Tosh could do with them. Right Tosh?” He called back, knowing that Toshiko had been listening at the door way in concern.

“I can ask.” Tosh blushed lightly.


	2. Political motives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After saving Gwen from a would be assassin the team have to deal with someone wanting them all dead, though they’re not going down without a fight.

Jack was pissed off, though the wannabe assassin had jumped into a getaway car, a bulletproof one at that, he had his suspicions who had sent them. The timing was just too convenient. He almost wished Torchwood had been the only ones to to contact the four five six. The government was much too quick to make a deal with the devil and he guessed they wanted to make sure no one would be able to speak about it. That put a target on all of their heads being as the government knew about his unique condition he wondered what they planned to do with him. It didn’t bare thinking about. He called through to Ianto. **  
**

“I’ve sent Gwen and Rhys to a safe house for tonight. Elise was right.”

“Did you catch who it was?”

“No. They got away but I think I know who sent them. I’ve got a few calls to make when I get back. For now just be on your guard.”

“I am.”

“Hows Elise?”

“She’s fine. The bleeding stopped and she says it’s not serious.”

“What does Owen think?”

“He thinks it’s the after effect of a large air pressure change but he looked a lot more concerned than that would call for.”

“Time travel isn’t exactly something we’ve had many good experiences with. I don’t blame him for being worried.”

“Tosh was wondering if she could study one of the vortex manipulators to help stabilise Elises jumps.”

“I’ll allow it. Their ability to manipulate time is DNA locked but if anyone can get some use out of them it’s Tosh.”

 

Tosh had gone to bed slightly excited to start looking at one of the vortex manipulators in the morning. Even if the next day would be tense at least she’d have something to do. She’d wondered why Gwen of all of them had been targeted first but in a way there was logic to it. She was the most presence ‘on the grid’ after all. But if it was a government agency behind the hit, then why not go after Tosh herself. They always had to know where she was. It was just part of the deal that gave her her freedom however much she liked to try and forget it. She could think about it in the morning, she needed to get some sleep.

After only a couple of hours she heard something that was out of place. The front door opening quietly. Owen was already awake, having heard the same thing. He grabbed his gun, hidden beside the bed out of a mix of paranoia and habit. As he stood he mimed for Tosh to hide and get Elise, who had stayed asleep, to do the same. They’d just managed to get out of sight when the bedroom door slowly opened and a hand, holding a silenced pistol could be seen in the low light. Owen realised how useful this person could be so instead of just killing them he grabbed their wrist and rammed the door into their arm as hard as he could. The pistol dropped as the arm it was connected to snapped. A scream of agony erupted from the other side of the door and Owen aimed for the noise, swinging his fist directly into the guys nose. It wasn’t the first fight he’d ever been in and he knew that a broken nose wouldn’t stop this ‘professional’ killer for long. The man swung at Owen with a knife in his left hand, missing his throat by a hair. So focused on Owen he didn’t even notice a very sleepy Elise holding a taser. The prongs hit the assassin in the shoulder and sent him into convulsions. He dropped to the floor like a lively sack of potatoes.

“This means we have to go back to work, doesn’t it?” Elise yawned, detaching the wires from the taser.

 

“I think he was more shocked by the fact that Owen attacked him butt fuck naked.” Elise smiled, leaning back in her chair, explaining what had happened to Jack. In the cells the guy was still shouting about his arm and nose as Owen had refused to set them until the morning.

Tosh was curled up with her head on Elise’s lap, dozing. “Is Ianto ok?” She mumbled.

“Yea. He’s asleep.” Jack smiled softly.

“Is he living here now?” Asked Elise, curious.

He shook his head. “Of course not. But with the situation it was the safer option.”

“Why not? You two’ve been together for a while now.”

“I’m not going to make anyone live here.”

“You’re doing that distancing thing. It’s ok to get close to people you know.”

“I’m not getting into my personal life.”

“Excuses, excuses… Any idea who’s called in these hits?”

“I know exactly who and he isn’t answering my calls. Coward.”

“So what’s this guys problem? We’re the ones keeping the weevils from their door so why try and get rid of us?”

“To cover his own guilt. If the public or even other government officials found out what happened with the four five six he’d never see the light of day again. Last I checked he was aiming for a promotion.”

“Fucking politicians.”

“If they were they wouldn’t be such a pain. Until I can speak to him I’m not sure what to do. At least you’re in the clear for now.”

“Huh?”

“You don’t strictly exist. On the surface all the documents you have will pass as legitimate but as far as MI5 is concerned you were never born. There’s no trail to follow.”

“Can we use that?”

“If he was willing to talk then yes, but if he isn’t it could just put you in more danger. I could contact the queen but there’s only so much she can do these days.”

“You have a direct line to the queen?”

“That’s who pays us.”

“I thought that was just on paper.”

“No. It’s very literal. Lizzy signs everything herself.”

“Lizzy? Now I know you’re pulling my leg.”

He smiled nostalgically. “I met her a long time ago. She drives worse than I do.”

“Seriously?”

“I told her that once during the war. She slapped me.” He laughed.

“Not many people out there can say they’ve been slapped by the queen.”

“More than you’d think.”

 

Gwen always found it hard to sleep in new places but after such a long day she had crashed out, only woken up by her alarm. She grabbed her phone and switched the alarm off, checking her messages with bleary vision. A text told her that Elise would pick her up for work as her car could be targeted. Wonderful. What was next, changing her name? Rhys was already awake and trying to keep busy. He handled stress surprisingly well but the bullet in the door frame had shaken him. He’d spent some of the night before just looking at places to move to.

“Morning.” He said with a forced smile.

Gwen appreciated the attempt. “Morning. My workmate Elise is going to pick me up in half an hour.”

“It’s good you’re not going to be alone. Have I met her?”

“Not in person I don’t think, no. She’s Toshiko’s girlfriend.”

“Oh yea, I remember you mentioning her.”

She’d decided not to tell Rhys about Elises abilities, wanting to keep the human stuff and alien stuff very separate. A quick shower, breakfast and throwing on something clean Gwen heard a knock at the door, followed by her phone ringing to assure her of who it was.

She opened the door to a sleepy looking Elise.

“Morning. I brought coffee.”

“I’ve just got to put my boots on. Come on in.”

Elise walked in and closed the door behind her, placing the carry cups on the table.

“You must be Elise.” Rhys greeted cheerfully.

“Yea, nice to meet you. You must be Rhys. Gwen talks about you all the time.”

“Nothing bad I hope.”

“Naa. Only good things.”

“Would you like to sit down for a bit?”

“Can’t stay long. We ended up having an eventful night last night.”

“Oh?”

“Yea. Woke up at about three to a guy trying to kill us, so that was fun.”

“Christ, are you ok?”

“Me? Yea, I’m fine. Owen broke the guys arm and his nose. Then I tased him. He did not want to go down. Tosh was pretty shaken, bless her. I don’t know if she’ll want to go home tonight.”

“Don’t you have anywhere you can go?”

“We’ll just stay at Owens place. Hopefully we can get this nonsense sorted soon. I’d like to get some sleep some time soon.”

Gwen stood and kissed Rhys on the cheek. “Glad you two are getting along but we’ve got to go.”

“Have at least a safe day.” He said softly to his wife.

“You too. Come on, are you driving or am I?” She asked Elise.

“I can drive. I wonder if Owens set that guys arm yet. He wouldn’t stop bitching about it all night.”

 

Jack sat next to Tosh explaining how the vortex manipulator, worked. He’d checked them over and found them to be upgraded versions of his own.

“Mine burned out but these are basically brand new. Looks like the time agency added more security in these, adding a DNA lock. It should still protect whoever’s wearing it from the side effects of travelling through the time vortex.”

“Was that what caused Elise’s nosebleed?”

“Possibly. Early models didn’t have the protection and after too many time jumps… It killed them.”

“That could happen?!”

“I didn’t know it was possible to time travel without any sort of technology. Even time lords can’t travel without a TARDIS. Elise shouldn’t even exist so I have no idea, maybe she’s immune to the effects and it was just the air pressure change. Don’t worry, we won’t let anything happen to her.” He tried to reassure her. At least it would be easier with the newer models but he was still concerned that it wouldn’t work.

“What if it breaks? The watch I mean.”

“I’ve heard of these things surviving a star going supernova. It breaking won’t be a problem.”

“I did wonder how yours survived this long.”

“I think this is the twelfth strap but it’s the same manipulator underneath. It can’t travel time anymore but it’s still useful for controlling half of the mechanisms here.”

“And it’s sentimental.” Tosh smiled, seeing how Jack looked at the strap around his wrist.

“Anyway.” He began, changing the subject. “If anything starts glowing just close it. I don’t want you getting irradiated by the internal battery.”

“That’s comforting, but I can handle it.”

“I wouldn’t let you if you couldn’t.”

 

“So what’s your plan now?” The failed assassin asked, his arm set and splinted. It needed a cast but Owen wasn’t feeling that generous.

“My plan? I don’t have a plan. You’re the one who tried to kill me remember.” Owen grumbled.

“You can’t let me go so what are you going to do with me.”

“That’s up to your boss, not mine.”

A huff came from the next cell along.

“What is that? You got animals down here?”

Owen smirked. “Animals? No. We don’t have any animals other than you down here.”

“You’re the animals that sold those kids off.”

Owen grabbed the man by the collar. “Listen to me you pathetic little fuck, your boss was one of the shitheads that gave those kids up so don’t you dare start talking shit about us, especially after trying to fucking kill us.” He let the man go and charged out of the cell, slamming the door behind him. He knew he hadn’t held his temper well. Usually he could hold himself together, even in front of those who’d attacked him before, but this time all he could think of was what would have happened if Tosh or Elise had been killed. It made his blood boil. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He needed to trust that Jack would get this all sorted out sooner rather than later.

 

Jack rubbed his temples, trying not to throw his phone across the room in frustration. He hated being actively ignored. Time to change tactics. Ianto had sent him all the information he could find on the man they had captive. It wasn’t as difficult as you’d expect as long as you knew what to look for. With that information all he needed to do was set up a meeting posing as the assassins handler. Also not too difficult but he’d have to hand the job off to Owen as his accent would give him away in seconds. Then it was just a matter of attending said meeting without being shot on sight. It made communication so much more difficult. A public place would be best as there was much less chance of a firefight. He wanted to end this with as little bloodshed as possible. He’d have to take the risk.

 

After a very tense day and a half the meeting was set up. Gwen sat in the corner of the small cafe, sipping tea and keeping one eye on the door. She was out of view of the window from the outside, as was Owen at the other side of the room. Other patrons sat around with no idea of the meeting they were about to witness.

John Frobisher, home office permanent secretary, entered with a briefcase in hand. He looked nervous as he looked around and took a seat at his table. Another man that had entered just behind him sat beside the door. The air in the room seemed so still and clammy. Too thick to breathe comfortably. Mr Frobisher turned ghost white as Jack entered, his usual confident self. The agent by the door seemed just as caught off guard.

“Good afternoon Mr Frobisher.” Jack smiled as he took a seat across from the man.

“How.. You can’t..” The weaselly gentleman spluttered.

“I can and I have. What I want to know is why you’ve been trying to kill my people.”

“I couldn’t let anyone know… They’re back. I know they are… I can’t let this get out.”

“And if you’d left me to deal with it then it wouldn’t have. The four five six have been dealt with already. You could have pretended it never happened.”

Gwen quietly moved across from the agent who was weighing his options.

“I wouldn’t do anything if I were you.” She told him, eyes pointing to Owen who smiled in reply.

Frobisher eyed the door. “How was I meant to know. After what happened it shouldn’t be possible.”

“Technology changes. And you could have asked, or don’t you have the clearance for that? Does anyone even know that you’re here? That you hired a man to kill innocent people who had nothing to do with any of this? I wonder what would happen if your name was connected with an attempted murder investigation. It’s something to think about.” Jack smiled over at the busy waitress who had started to look a little concerned.

“You wouldn’t.”

“Why wouldn’t I? It was sheer luck that I don’t have a dead body and a grieving family on my hands.”

“Please. I have a family.”

“And I’m sure they’re very proud. Now, here’s what is going to happen. You and your friend over there are going to walk out of here, get into your car and go home. Your assassin is going to wake up in hospital with no idea how he got there and we are all going to forget this ever happened. I’m doing this for your families sakes.”

“Thank yo-”

“But, if I ever see you, anyone employed by you or anyone even slightly connected to you in any way I will not hesitate to destroy your life. Do you understand?”

Frobisher shrank in his chair, Jacks icy gaze telling him that the captain was not messing around in any way shape or form. There was something otherworldly behind those blue eyes that sparked a primal fear in the man.

“I’m gone. You’ll never see me again. I promise.”

“Leave.”

Jack watched the man skitter out very carefully, before letting out a breath he’d been holding. Looking down he saw the abandoned briefcase and picked it up, taking it outside and away from any other people before opening it. It really was filled with money. Part of him thought there would be a bomb inside. Part of him thought there still was. He closed the case and looked back to see Owen and Gwen giving him questioning looks.

 

“So it’s over?” Asked Tosh as her workmates returned.

“Yea. Well, if he wants to live it is.” Jack said, matter of factly.

Elise smiled. “So we can go home without worrying.”

Tosh didn’t look convinced. “Maybe we can stay at Owens for a little while. I’m not sure about going back to mine just yet.”

“Yea… I mean give me a chance to go and clean up first.” Owen shrugged, trying to hide that he really didn’t want them to see his place as it was.

“I’ve visited you before, you don’t need to do anything special.”

“Yea, you visited. I just threw everything into the wardrobe and hoped the door wouldn’t give.”

Elise snorted. “That is such a uni guy move.”

“You have to learn somewhere. Anyway, I’ve not been there in a bit so I need to turn the heating back on.”

“I’m sure we can warm the place up.” She grinned.

“Even more reason for me to tidy up.”

“Well if we have a free afternoon fancy helping me with the space jumping thing?”

“I thought you weren’t going to do that for a while.”

“It’s the time jump I’m not doing. Space jumping just makes me a little dizzy because it messes up my equilibrium. It just takes some getting used to is all.”

“Only if I can monitor you. The second I see anything out of the ordinary we’re stopping, got it?”

“Works for me.”

Tosh looked over to them. “Can I get that data too? It might help with a project I’m working on.”

“Yea, what project is this?” Owen asked.

“I don’t know if it’ll work but I’m modifying one of the vortex manipulators.  I’m modifying it to try and negate the side effects from the time jumps. So far I’ve managed to get it to essentially factory reset but I need to know how I should calibrate it.”

“You’re doing that thing again.” Elise grinned.

“My job?”

“Being gorgeous, yes.”

Owen scooted by and picked Elise up in a fireman’s lift. “Nope. I’ve seen where this goes and no one gets to see that but me.

“Jack, I’m being kidnapped.” She giggled.

Jack looked up from what he was doing. “Bring her back in one piece.”

“I promise nothing.” Owen replied as he carried her off.    

                         

On the outskirts of the city Father Peter Lyric was dealing with something he never thought he’d have the misfortune to encounter. He’d been called a few times to the Willis family residents with complaints of paranormal activity. At first he thought it was the same as other cases he’d heard of: rusty creaking pipes, loose wires, carbon monoxide poisoning. These were the most common causes of ‘hauntings’. The Willis family had checked for all of these, being a generally agnostic family, and had contacted the church in a last ditch attempt to free themselves from the haunting. The first visit the priest had made was uneventful so he had blessed the house and left. A week later he was called as the haunting had gotten worse. Furniture was being thrown around during the night, voices had been heard from the unplugged TV and the children had spoken of figures looming over them in the night. Father Lyric had practically doused the place in holy water and prayed his old heart out. Evidently it hadn’t worked.

Kirren Willis sat up in his bed, eyes pure black and unfamiliar letters seemingly burned into his skin, an unnervingly calm smile on his face.

A much deeper voice than a child of nine should ever be able to produce emanated from his mouth. “Hello Father. Have you come to get rid of me?”

“What are you? What is your name?”

“I am Legion. For we are many.”

“Don’t quote scripture at me demon! In the name of God what is your true name?”

The boy laughed. “You aren’t as ignorant as I assumed. You may call me Gelial.”

 

Elise steadied herself from the jump before falling with a thud.

“I’m ok.” She said as she pulled herself up.

“Come on, I think that’s enough for now.”

“I haven’t even broken a sweat.”

“Your heart rate begs to differ. You agreed to the deal.” Owen gave her a look like a stern teacher.

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Think there’s enough data for Tosh to work with?”

“It should be. I’m just hoping she won’t need a time jump too.”

“Me too.”

“I thought you planned to use it.”

“Only if someone dies or the world tries to end. Even then I don’t know how to activate it. The space jumps I just need to concentrate on the place I want to be and it just happens but time jumps feel a bit different. I think I have to give it a reason I think.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“Yea, but I don’t like the idea that it’s judging what is and isn’t important. Whatever it is.”

“Think it’s an outside entity?”

“Not an entity exactly.” She studied the scar on the back of her hand. “More like time itself. It’s strange. You wouldn’t think that sort of connection from one symbol.”

“I wondered about that too. Mind if I take a closer look at it? I thought maybe there was something underneath.”

“That should be fine. You’ve got the scanner thing so it’s not like you have to cut me open.”

“How’s your arm by the way?”

“It’s fine, barely even bruised. How far have you gotten in replicating the implant.”

“I’m nearly done. Just have to do a few tests but I’m running low on female rats. The cage had become a boys club before I realised.”

 

Father Lyric collapsed backwards onto the floor, clutching his crucifix to his chest.

“Out demon!” He ordered, though his voice had started to shake. “Leave this boy!”

Galial laughed. “Why should I ? This is a perfectly healthy vessel.”

“In the name of God I command you!”

“Your deity has no power over me. I am far from his reach.”

“Lies!”

“Come now Father, you and I both know that God has abandoned you.”

“No!” The old man cried, covering his ears.

“I know the truth can be painful but I wouldn’t have said it if you didn’t believe it. I’m very skilled in reading the thoughts you like to ignore. This boy hates his brother and wants to throw him down the stairs. He hates his parents for talking about a divorce. He thinks he should run away from home.”

“Leave him alone! Please.”

“Please?”

“Please. He’s innocent.”

“But you are not, are you Father Lyric?”

“Stop!”

“You left a girl out on a snowy night because she was drunk and you thought she might vomit in the church. What happened to her Father?”

“How do you know that?!”

“She died. Froze to death because you wanted to keep the church clean. You told the police you weren’t there. You lied. You tell others you are a man of faith but I see a murderer.”

“It’s not true! I couldn’t have known!”

“It was a blizzard and she didn’t even have a coat. Her blood is on your hands and you speak as if I’m the evil one. I could help those feelings go away.”

“I won’t listen to your lies demon!”

“I haven’t lied once. You’re going to hell anyway, why not let me ease your pain for a while.”

Tears ran down Peter’s face as he looked up into the lightless orbs that the boy had for eyes. His mind couldn’t think of anything other than the spirits words. He had killed that girl and had never felt as if he had done enough to earn forgiveness. It was all too much. He’d lost control. “How?”

 

Mrs Willis heard crying from her sons bedroom and ran up, tearing the door open to find her son confused and upset but seemingly fine. His eyes had returned to their normal green and his skin was clear of markings. She pulled the boy into her arms and kissed him on the head.

“Thank you Father. Is it gone? Is the ghost gone?” She asked through relieved sobs.  

“When I leave you will have no more problems with this haunting.” Father Lyric smiled softly, the image of serenity.

“Thank you. We’ll be at church on Sunday I promise. You saved my baby.”

“I look forward to your attendance. I do hope you will bring your family and friends.”

“Of course! Of course. Is there any way we can repay you for this?”

“Your attendance is more than enough payment Mrs Willis.” He said as if he had done her a simple favour before making his way downstairs to leave.

“Is there anything we should do to stop this from happening again?” Asked Mr Willis as he opened the front door.

“Oh no, you should be just fine now. Isn’t it strange?”

“W-what is?”

“That your son looks so little like you. Families are very odd, don’t you think?”

“I suppose?” Mr Willis paled slightly, watching the priest leave. He swallowed hard and called up to his wife. “We need to talk, can you come down here?”

 

Owen looked up at the magnified image of Elises scar projected on the wall, not completely sure what he was seeing on the smaller screen. The surface layer had been normal scar tissue but underneath hid what looked like thousands of microscopic symbols, etched in black, almost tattooed into the flesh. The lines were only a fraction of a millimetre thick so they couldn’t actually be normal tattoos. It was as if the pigment in the cells themselves had been changed.

“It looks like source code.” Elise mused.

Owen nodded, still scanning the image with his eyes. “It does.” He hit the screenshot button on his computer. “Tosh has a few translation programmes. Maybe we can find out what it says. Keep still, I want to get a few more images for it to work on.”

“It’s so intricate. I don’t know how he did all of it so quickly. I barely even felt it.”

“Keep still.”

“I am.”

He grumbled at the blurry screenshots before taking his phone out of his pocket and taking a picture of the projection on the wall. At least that seemed to be a clear image. “Stay there, I’m going to get a better camera. Your hands doing the blurry thing again.”

“Why would another camera help?”

“It can take pictures of the projection. I just can’t take screenshots.”

She watched him leave before turning her attention back to the projection. The symbols moved with her pulse but they were drawn so clearly it didn’t make them illegible. It almost looked as if each figure was surrounded by a golden glow, that got stronger the longer she looked.

She was pulled from her trance like state by a hand being waved in front of her eyes.

“Are you still with me?” Asked Owen, a camera in his other hand.

“Yea. Yea, sorry I spaced out.” She looked back at the projection but didn’t see the golden glow anymore. “Did you get the pictures you needed?”  

“Yea, and then I noticed you were daydreaming. I was going to worry if you didn’t snap out of it.”

“I’m fine. Jumping must have made me more tired than I thought.”

“I hate to say it but -”

“Don’t say it.”

“I told you so.”


	3. Inner demons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sudden violent outbursts and messages left in blood on walls. It’s not long before the team turn their attention to a local church and its connection to the recent deaths.

Toshiko sat frustrated. She’d never had such issues with the translation programme before. It had crashed for a sixth time and completely frozen the machine. She didn’t even know it was possible to freeze one of these machines due to their frankly ridiculous processing power. It was almost embarrassing to have to try and go at it manually with all the resources available to her. No, it was just another problem she could fix. She would fix. She needed to think about it logically. If the programme couldn’t handle translating the whole thing then she’d just have to break it down into parts. Translate it one chunk at a time. Top left corner, a max of two hundred characters, easy. The blue hue of her screen changed to a bright gold before freezing and crashing once more.

“For the love of…” She grumbled, looking up at the login screen. “This isn’t over.”

She stood and walked off for a break.

“Having a bad morning?” Asked Gwen, turning from the news reports she’d been skimming over.

“You could call it that. Don’t we have an algorithm to check the news for you?”

“We do but I saw a strange news story this morning and I wanted to look into it.”

“Oh?”

“Yea. A man killed both of his sons and then himself.”

“That’s awful but why did it catch your attention?”

“For a few weeks before it happened the family said they were being haunted by a ghost. I would have just brushed it off but look at this.” She brought up a police report and a couple of crime scene photos. One depicting a living room wall with writing scrawled over it. ‘He looked inside me and saw the truth. They were not mine. He knew there was one thing I could do. I didn’t want to but he said I did. I believed him.’

“The thing is he had no history of mental illness. No reports of violence. I wondered if there was anything in the quote from the wife in the original report but I can’t find it.” She continued.

“I’ll look into it for you. It’s not like the translation’s going anywhere.”

 

Father Lyric sat next to Mrs Willis and handed her a handkerchief.

“I just don’t know why he did it.” She sobbed. “We argued the night before about some nonsense.”

“Nonsense?”

“He kept saying I’d cheated and that the boys weren’t his. I’d never do that to him. I thought…” She blew her nose. “I thought if I went out for a few hours he’d cool off. The boys were in bed and… Oh god!” She descended into hysterical sobbing once more.

“It seems the demon had done too much damage before I removed it from your home. I’m sorry.”

“No no. You did your best.” She snuffled, trying to calm her breathing. “It was all my fault.”

“I’m sure that isn’t true.”

“It is. I was always out doing something. No wonder he thought I’d been unfaithful.”

“Did you ever tell him about your first relationship?”

“What? My-… How did…?”

“Everyone has a past Veronica. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“He didn’t know. Who would have told him?”

“Who do you think would be so cruel to tell him? A friend? His mother maybe?”

“She never approved of me. Even at our wedding she gossiped about me.”

“You know what you have to do.” He looked into her frightened, reddened, eyes.

“I know.”

“Off you go. I’ve got a women’s institute meeting to host.”

 

Elise and Owen had been sent weevil hunting, well more like weevil spooking as most weevils would sprint away at the first whiff of Elise. They weevil was sighted in a churchyard. The old stone built building loomed over them, the bells sounding hollow. The yard itself was a little overgrown, only the far off graveyard being kept tidy. No birds sang, not even the crows and the air felt hauntingly still.

“This feels like the start of a horror movie.” Elise said, looking around for signs of the weevil. The smell was what usually gave them away but they were also untidy creatures so they often left trails of dead pigeons or small animals.

“Churches do that. It  usually keeps the weevils away though.”

“I didn’t know weevils were religious.”

“They’re not. Weevils have specific places they like to hunt. Anywhere they can smell blood like hospitals, places people can be found alone like car parks at night and abandoned buildings. Churches have people coming and going every day and get locked up at night. No good for a weevil.”

“Logical. I wonder what attracted it.”

“No idea. Maybe it got kicked out of its group.”

A scream rang out from inside the church followed by a commotion. Owen and Elise sprinted back and into the building, expecting the desperate weevil to have attacked someone but what they came across was two women in their late fifties fighting. One held a knife that was still covered in butter icing from cutting a cake and the other wielding a knitting needle while the other ladies cowered. Owen moved to disarm the one with the knife while Elise pulled the woman with the knitting needle back.

“Has someone called the police?” Elise called out, struggling with the surprisingly strong woman who was flailing with her knitting needle, still screaming at the other restrained woman. A mousy haired lady pulled an old mobile phone from her handbag and began to dial, doing her best to explain to the operator what was going on.

Owen had taken the knife from the woman he was trying to restrain but she was fighting like a cornered animal, kicking and attempting to bite him. A portly, blond haired, lady walked over.

“Mabel stop! You’re going to hurt yourself!” She ordered, not that it did any good as she had to step back so she didn’t get kicked in the kneecap. “Bring her here, we can put her in the vestry until the police arrive.” She said to Owen, pointing to an old wooden door to the side of the room. It was as good of an idea as any so he wrestled her over there and dropped her in the room, closing the door and holding it. The blond woman grabbed a standing lamp, turning it to unscrew it from the base and slid it through the ring handle to the door, essentially locking it.

“Thank you young man. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t shown up.” She sighed, thinking that now the two ladies were separated it was over. The door beside them rattled as something large was thrown against it.

“A little help over here!” Elise shouted, still struggling with the manic lady who was trying to kick her with her sharp high heels. She couldn’t keep the woman locked in place while she was trying to dodge the pointed plastic. Owen ran over and took the shoes before helping Elise to hold the woman.

Outside, red and blue lights lit up the windows and two confused police officers entered, cuffing the seemingly rabid woman and pinning her to the floor while calling for a van and some backup.

Owen backed off next to Elise. “I think I would have preferred the weevil.”

“Me too.”

 

Father Lyric grumbled to himself from the floor above, annoyed at his plan being foiled. He decided to make himself scarce, not wanting to bother with law enforcement. It wasn’t as if it was the first time one of his chosen had been interrupted but it was always frustrating.

“Oh Maybel.” He said in that deep inhuman voice. “Your daughter will never let you see your grandchildren after this. Without them, what do you have left? There is always one way out of this.”

He smiled to himself as he heard the squelch of a pen entering the jugular vein.

 

Owen closed his eyes.

“You couldn’t have known she’d do that.” Elise said softly.

“I shouldn’t have left her in such a bad mental state.”

“And what? Let her stab you too?”

“Still. I just don’t know how she managed to write that much on the wall before collapsing.”

“Yea, I’m not the medical expert but even I could see she shouldn’t have been able to do that. Think its a case for us or just… Crazy being crazy.”

Owen shrugged and started the SUV. “You should call the Hub. They’re probably wondering where we are.”

Elise pulled out her phone to see three missed calls. She called Jack and set her phone on loudspeaker.

“And where have you two been?” Jack asked in mock anger.

“We got caught up in a fight between two women at the church.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. It was like they’d lost their minds. Trying to stab each other. The police turned up but one woman had stabbed herself in the neck. We had to give statements.”

“Sounds bad. Either of you injured?”

“Naa. We escaped any actual harm… We’re on our way back.”

“Right. See you soon.”

 

Elise sipped her drink, appreciating the warmth as she’d missed lunch and she always chilled when she hadn’t eaten in a while.

“The police opened the door and it was like the shining. There was more blood on the floor than left in her body. She’d written on the wall before she died -” Owen explained.

Gwen sat up straight. “What did she write?”

“Does it matter?”

“More than you think.”

“Urm… I think it was. He looked inside. Saw what I had to lose. I lost them and myself. He told me there was one way out. I knew he was right.”

Gwen paled a little. “That first sentence.”

“What about it?”

“Last night there was a murder suicide. The man had written on the wall before he killed himself. It started with the same sentence.”

“Didn’t you say the family had complained about a haunting before everything happened?” Asked Tosh.

“I don’t think it was ghosts.”

“No. Who do you go to when you think your house is haunted? A priest. Maybe there’s something at the church?”

“It’s better than no lead at all. I’ll start looking into it.”

 

Father Lyric stood next to his sectioned parishioners bed. Geraldine was heavily sedated and bound to the bed.

“Don’t worry. It will be fine.” He soothed.

The old woman opened her bleary eyes.

“Your family have been told where you are and they’re flying in tonight. It’s such a shame that they’ll see you like this. You look uncomfortable.” He carefully and slowly untied the buckle from her left hand. “But you’ve survived worse than this. The famine was awful but you made it through. So young. What else were you meant to do when dear old grandpapa passed. You would have starved to death. No one would blame you, but you were so smart. You covered it up and blamed it on the animals. The pigs did enjoy the bones. You couldn’t slaughter a pig after all. You tried but they were your pets, your only friends. You loved them more than him after all. What would your family think I wonder? The blood of a cannibal running through their veins.” He untied the buckle from her right hand. “We all have secrets Geraldine. But you can’t hide anything from me.” A smile formed across his face, eyes blinking pure black. “Rest well dear.”

The nurse nodded a swift goodbye to the old priest as he left, letting her check on her patient. She seemed to have settled finally.

“I’ll check on you again in a few hours, ok?” The nurse said softly.

 

The next morning Jack and Gwen entered the hospital and walked right through the police cordon to the room that had once held Geraldine. Though the bodies had already been taken away there was still a strong smell of blood. Understandable as it was everywhere.

That same sentence was painted in crimson on the wall. ‘He looked into me’.

Five deaths in under three days, seven if you counted the two nurses who had been found with their throats torn out with what looked like human teeth. Whatever ‘he’ was needed to be stopped asap. Gwen stepped back to ask the police officer guarding the area a question.

“Did the patient have any visitors last night?”

“Only one. Her family were flying in from Russia.”

“And who was that?”

“The vicar at her church I think. I can get you the address.”

“Thanks.”

The same church. Of course it was.

“Looks like it’s time for us to visit this holy man.” Said Jack, knowing they wouldn’t get much from the room.

 

Due to the violent reactions each of the victims had the whole team made their way down to the church. Tosh staying in the SUV keeping an eye on all the readings. She preferred that to being in the line of fire unless absolutely necessary. Ianto made his way around to the back of the building just in case anyone tried to make a run for it. Elise sat in the main hall with Owen while Jack and Gwen went to speak with the priest.

Father Lyric sat at a table on the second floor quite contentedly. He glanced up.

“Hello there my children. How may I help you?” He asked as he sipped his tea.

“We were hoping you could answer a few questions about the recent deaths connected to this church.” Gwen began, softly but firmly. Ever the police officer.

The vicar placed his half empty teacup down. “Such an awful thing to happen. I can’t bring myself to clean the vestry. Poor woman.”

“Did you hear anything that might have caused a reaction like that?”

“Goodness no. One moment they were having their meeting and then they were trying to kill each other.”

“So you were here?”

“Oh Mrs Cooper, you and I both know I was, otherwise you wouldn’t have brought your workmates. I assume you’re all listening to me with all the computer things the young lady sitting outside is looking at. Then of course there’s the gentleman guarding the back door to the building. And the pair that delayed my plans for a few hours downstairs. And last but not least you and the good Captain here. You all act as if you’re immune to my specific brand of influence, and maybe you’re a little more difficult to take over but not by much. I first assumed when you got here that I could have a little fun and then play the victim for the police but thinking about it now… A vessel that can’t die. That would be very nice indeed.” The priests smile widened, dark markings spreading across his face. His head shot backwards as Jack fired a bullet into the centre of his forehead. His body didn’t drop. A dark laugh rose from the body. “I don’t need a living vessel. It’s just a preference. You shouldn’t worry about me anyway. Your friends are having a much worse time than you are.”

 

Ianto hated when he had to fight, but faced down by three figures with blacked out eyes and long fangs he didn’t have much choice. Well, apart from something he’d learned in school. One of them charged and he dodged to the side, letting their momentum carry them directly into the wall. The second followed, obviously not the brightest of beings. The third tilted her head in confusion, working out her next move. He reached back to the old door handle, twisting it slowly so it couldn’t be heard as easily. The possessed woman tried to charge from Ianto’s left, only to get the door pulled open into her face. She dropped like a rock and he took that moment to duck inside and slide the lock closed.

 

Tosh would usually keep her door slightly ajar for the cool air but since the break in she’d been overly cautious. The readings she was getting were strange and the comms system was having trouble. Seeing someone move past her window she turned to see a pair of pitch black eyes staring back at her. She jumped and scrambled back, hitting the door locking mechanism. A bang from behind her showed another figure trying to punch out the window. It wouldn’t do them much good but it meant she could really do with backup.

“Come on.” She breathed, trying to get the comms system back online. All she got was crackling in return. At least she was safe but she couldn’t be sure about the safety of the others.   

 

The problem with trying to stake out public areas is you have to keep track of multiple people who you don’t know the intentions of. They need to make the first move. It was always a problem when their first move was to attack. Elise felt a thin rope pull tight around her neck before she could grab it. A figure had crept up behind her and was trying to choke her to death. Owen was in as much trouble, having been slammed over the head with a bible. It hurt like hell but it hadn’t knocked him out. He turned and swung, his fist connecting with the nineteen year old choir boys jaw. The teenager staggered back and fell into the pew. Two others dressed in similar robes took his place clawing at Owens face.

Elise reached into her coat for the folding blade she’d been given by Ianto last time she’d helped with maintenance. She’d have to thank him later. She gritted her teeth, starting to get a little light headed, and forced her fingers under the rope just enough to give space for the blade. Her nails dug into her skin but it was better than letting whoever it was kill her. The rope snapped and her attacker fell back. She took a gasping breath, turning to see who’d been choking her. He was a boy of maybe thirteen, still holding the two pieces of rope. While reeling from seeing a child she missed another member of the choir walking up behind her. He grabbed the end of her ponytail to try and close the gap between them. She grabbed her hair about half way down and sliced off the rest. Hair would grow back, her life wouldn’t. She needed to get into open space.

Owen stepped up onto one of the pews, kicking the choir boy away. He was thinking the same as Elise. He needed space to move. He stepped up onto the back of the pew and stepped over to the back of the next, keeping the momentum to reach the front before jumping down to see at least twelve people between him and the door.

A deep laughter echoed around the room from above as Jack was thrown clear through the air, slamming into a stone pillar with a sickening crunch. Gwen was being held over the balcony by the throat, Father Lyric grinning maniacally.

 

Ianto could see the action through the reflection on the marble statue across from him. He made his way forward just in time to catch Gwen, landing them both in a heap on the floor. Gwen coughed and looked up, gathering her senses.

“Nice catch.” She smiled.

“Thanks. What’s going on?”

“They’re all under the vicars control.”

The choir all moved in unison to barricade the door. Father Lyric jumped down, landing on his feet on the altar.

“I could have them kill you, but would you like to know what would be better? Tell me Elise, what happened to Lisa?”

Elise went pale, a lump forming in her throat.

“Do I need to spell it out? Don’t get me wrong I understand. You were so desperate for anyone to care about your pathetic existence of course you would kill to keep him by your side. Isn’t it a shame it had to be poor comatose Lisa that fell victim to your desperation.”

Her eyes flicked over to Ianto, feeling her world crashing. She couldn’t deny it, she just hoped he’d at least let her explain. She tightened her fingers around the blade in her hand.

“It’s no wonder mummy and daddy hated you. You’re a monster. You think what you have now is going to last? No, of course you don’t. They’ll get bored of you eventually. It’s not as if you’re needed anymore and compared to everyone else you may as well still be finger painting. What do you have to offer? Nothing.”

“Leave her alone!” Owen roared, pointing his gun at the possessed priest.

“Of course you sympathise. Mummy never loved you either. No matter what you did. Perfect marks. Perfect career. She still couldn’t bare to look at you. You were so lost trying to make mummy happy you didn’t even start to think about alternatives when Katie got sick. You supposedly loved her and you let her die.” Father Lyric paused as six bullets were fired into him. “You shouldn’t be angry at me. It’s your own fault.” He turned his head to look at Ianto. “And you. So prim and proper. Can’t let anyone know how common and tragically boring you are underneath. Of course it’s all daddy’s fault, or is it? Weak, pathetic, too soft hearted to fit in. It was laughable that you tried to keep Lisa alive for so long. It was for love, you keep telling yourself, but it wasn’t was it? It was duty because you had eyes for someone else. Your family was right about you.”

The words cut deep, made it hard to move, hard to think. There was only the words leaving nothing but despair. Elise just sat, the blade clattering to the floor, staring with empty eyes into space. Owen just stared into the floor, barely breathing. Ianto had gone cold, shivering slightly.

“Ianto? Wake up, come on. Don’t listen to him, you know he’s just trying to get to you.” Gwen pleaded but got no response. She was essentially on her own and there was nothing she could think of that would help. That’s when she saw it. For all his posturing he was staying on one side of the altar, flinching before he got near the other side. Why. The only thing there was a lit candle. Fire. She skittered across the floor and to the stairs as Father Lyric laughed on.

Jack gasped back to life, eyes flicking open. He looked around at his team who looked like ghosts of themselves.

“You’re awake captain. How lovely.” The vicar smiled gleefully. “I’m afraid this vessel has a few more holes in it than last time and I’d rather not smell of rot so why don’t you make this easy on both of us and give up your body.”

“Sorry, you’re not my type.” Jack scoffed.

“I’ll make you a deal. You give up your body and all the pain goes away. You never have to be dragged kicking and screaming back from the dead. No more regrets. No more grief. You won’t have to watch as your loved ones die yet again. No more being left behind. Alone.”

Something dripped from above onto Father Lyrics head. It smelled chemical. A drip became a stream as Gwen emptied the lighter fluid from two of the lamps onto the man. Jack could smell it and crawled forward, ignoring his own thoughts that were screaming at him, and grabbed the candle, holding it to a line of excelerant. The flames rose high into the air with the demonic screams. The choir at the back snapped back to lucidity and wrenched the doors open to escape. A huge humanoid figure with three horns on its head rose from the flames before dissipating into nothing, leaving only a charred body. The fire had burnt itself out. Jack, his mind now calm, waved up at Gwen who gave a tentative thumbs up.

“We should get out of here.” Sighed Owen, looking at the body he guessed he’d have to deal with.

“Agreed.” Jack nodded, looking around. “Where’s Elise?”

 

Elise slid down the outside wall, mascara running down her face. She was still trembling and just wanted the ground to swallow her up. No one had even noticed where she had gone and maybe that was for the best. How could she face them now. Jack knew, of course he did, but for everyone else she didn’t know how they’d take it. And Ianto. Christ, how could she even be in the same room as him. Her heart pounded in her ears and she could barely feel her fingers. A panic attack, that was all she needed.

“Elise?” Asked Ianto softly, spotting the curled up bundle of jacket and boots that looked like it could be a person.

She jumped and couldn’t bring herself to look up.

He sat on the ground next to her and looked out into the blue sky. “I already knew.”

“What?” She whimpered.

“I worked it out months ago. Who else could it have been?”

“I’m so sorry.” She coughed, gripping herself tightly.

“Elise, I’m not angry. Lisa died the day Torchwood one fell… I just couldn’t let her go. Future Owen explained everything in the letter he left for me.” He tentatively wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I’m glad she went in her sleep instead of how it originally happened.”

“I shouldn’t be here. I should be the one supporting you guys.”

“Your allowed to be upset. Someone shouting all of those intrusive thoughts you have from the outside hurts.”

“How are you so calm?”

“Unlike everyone else I’ve actually spoken to a councillor before. It helps. Here, you dropped this.” He handed her the folding blade.

“You trust me with this?”

“Yea, Owen would be too pissed off if you used it on yourself so I doubt you’d go that far. I mean he’s cheated death a few times now, I don’t think he’d let you go so easily.”

She let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “True… Is everyone ok?”

“Yea. A bit confused why you ran off but ok.”

“I thought it would be obvious.”

“I think we all know a little bit extra about each other that we wish we didn’t, but we ignore it like we always do.”

“That’s where serial killers come from.”

He smiled softly, handing her a handkerchief. “You look a bit like a panda. A really metal panda.”

“Thanks.” She rubbed under her eyes with a shaking hand.

“And I think you’ve lost about a foot off your ponytail, unless you got a haircut I didn’t notice.”

“It was an emergency cut. I’ll tidy it up later. It’s not too awful is it?”

“I’m sure no one will notice. Especially with the panda eyes.”

She laughed, calming down and steadying herself. “So demons are a real thing then.”

“Only the same as fairies and redcaps. Other dimensional beings.”

“At least he wasn’t as bad as Abaddon. He’s still trapped safely in the rift.”

“Ready to go? I think the body should have been stored away by now.”

“Yea. I think so.”

He helped her to her feet and they both made their way back to the others before heading off.


End file.
